COMETS SUMMARY

MEGAN MANFULL

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Back to the grind

The Comets won their first two regular-season games, but it was hardly evident at practice Tuesday.

The Comets met for the first time since winning back-to-back games against San Antonio and Minnesota over the weekend. Instead of a typical 2 1/2 -hour practice, the Comets practiced for three hours with every drill being physical and intense. Reserve Tari Phillips was even forced to leave midway through after taking an elbow from Michelle Snow in the mouth. Phillips needed stitches on the inside and outside of her lip.

The players said the two victories have motivated them to work even harder.

"You can always work harder," point guard Dominique Canty said. "The two games, it gave us a lot of confidence. And I think a lot of people on the team are seeing that we can do a lot of good things if we really put our mind to it."

Kudos to the reserves

One area Comets coach
Van Chancellor
was especially pleased with during the first two games is the bench play.

Led by Adrienne Goodson, Tari Phillips and Sancho Lyttle, the reserves gave the Comets an offensive boost in the first game and rebounding help in the second.

Against San Antonio, the trio combined for 17 points. Against Minnesota, Lyttle had six rebounds in eight minutes. Phillips had four rebounds in nine minutes.

"I think it's the best depth we've ever had here," Chancellor said. "We've got quality players who can really, really play. We need to get them a little more comfortable. Most of them are new, so they are a little uncomfortable with the system."

Silver lining

Van Chancellor
was not thrilled when the Comets had to open the season with a back-to-back, but he is not complaining about the four days he has between games now. The Comets took Monday off, but will practice the other three days leading up to their Friday night game at Seattle.

"You moan and groan about having to open up the season on a back-to-back, but when you win both games and then you have three days to practice, you just think, what a great opportunity," Chancellor said. "Now, we can work and look at some things that we need to improve on."